Graham Russell

Graham Russell
Russell in 2013
Background information
Birth name	Cyril Graham Russell
Born	(1950-06-11) 11 June 1950
Origin	Nottingham, England
Genres	Soft rock
Occupation(s)	Musician, songwriter
Instrument(s)	Vocals, guitar, piano
Years active	1975–present
Labels	Arista, Giant, BMG, EMI

Cyril Graham Russell (born 11 June 1950) is an English musician and singer/guitarist of the soft rock duo Air Supply.

In 1975, with Russell Hitchcock, he formed Air Supply in Australia. The duo have been singing romantic songs and ballads, such as "Lost in Love", "All Out Of Love", "Every Woman In The World", "The One That You Love", "Goodbye", and "Making Love Out of Nothing at All", for more than forty years.

Childhood

Graham has had a strong interest in poetry, music and books since his childhood. At the age of 11, he started writing poems and in the same year, 1961, he composed his first song: That rockin' feeling.

Self-taught, he learned to play guitar and percussion alone and, after the loss of his mother in childhood, he became a loner and thereby found in music and poems a way to express his loss and his emotions.

He attended the Carlton-Le-Willows, a technical school in Gedling, Nottingham, where his love for literature and the great English poets only grew further, fueled by study and also an interest that developed on the arts of the paranormal and occult sciences, highlighted by the works of writers Shelly, Keats, and Lord Byron.

In 1963, the music of The Beatles was a strong influence that marked his life that year, and after watching a live show in 1964, Graham decided that he wanted to be a musician. Graham joined a band called UNION BLUES in 1965, where he played percussion, but he really wanted to play his own songs in front of the stage.

Career

That same year, he moved to Australia and created a second band in Melbourne, and began to also play solo in cafes and dance clubs, gaining ground on the Australian circuit.

In 1973, after reading several books and spiritual and mystical content of articles in search of knowledge and answers for several questions about life, Graham joined the rock opera Jesus Christ Superstar show in 1975 and found Russell Hitchcock on the first day. Russell Hitchcock heard a song written and performed by Graham Russell. Curious, Russell Hitchcock had discovered a talent that would eventually lead them to create the band Air Supply.

Russell performing in Napa, California in 2015 with Air Supply

The sweet voice of Graham and the power of Russell's voice was a perfect junction.

After 18 months in Superstar, Graham Russell and Russell Hitchcock formed the band under the name which Graham Russell had seen in a dream, a giant bright lights plate in which could be read "Air Supply". The first single, "Love And Other Bruises", became a success and is a classic today. In 1976, after opening the Rod Stewart concert in Australia and also in the United States in 1977, the band Air Supply went on tour and two more hit records ensued, "Lost In Love" and "All Out Of Love".

In 1979, Clive Davis heard the song Lost in Love by accident, and the band signed to the label Arista Records. The first single on the Hot 100, "Lost In Love", reached the Top 3 in May 1980, and Graham Russell's "The One That You Love" reached the top in July 1981.

After several successful albums such as The Vanishing Race, News from Nowhere, The Book of Love, and others with reinterpretations of old hits, Graham Russell lives with his wife Jodi in the mountains of Utah, where nature and the animals that they rehabilitate transmit to him a better quality of life and inspiration for compositions and his music.

Personal Life

In 1967, he married a high school sweetheart, Linda, and had a son with her the following year, Simon. Simon is currently working with his father, organising concerts and the fan club. Graham and Linda also had a daughter, Samantha, born in March 1972. Graham Russell's marriage to Linda ended in 1978.

In 1981, Graham Russell met Jodi Varble on a show, and after two years in which they exchanged correspondence, decided to get together and married in 1986, when Jodi was 21.

Discography

Main article: Air Supply discography

Solo

• The Future (2007)

References

• McFarlane, Ian (1999). "Whammo Homepage". Encyclopedia of Australian Rock and Pop. St Leonards, NSW: Allen & Unwin. ISBN 1-86508-072-1. Archived from the original on April 5, 2004. Retrieved 4 January 2010. {{cite encyclopedia}}: Unknown parameter |deadurl= ignored (|url-status= suggested) (help) Note: Archived [on-line] copy has limited functionality.
• Spencer, Chris; Zbig Nowara; Paul McHenry (2002) [1987]. The Who's Who of Australian Rock. Noble Park, Vic.: Five Mile Press. ISBN 1-86503-891-1. {{cite book}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help) Note: [on-line] version established at White Room Electronic Publishing Pty Ltd in 2007 and was expanded from the 2002 edition.